


Mountain Life - Part 2

by OtterAndTerrier



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: #roguerobin017, Action/Adventure, Camping, F/M, Gen, Han and Leia go back to arguing, Jedifest Rogue Robin, Luke is Done, Pre-ESB, Rogue Robin 2017, he also struggles with his newfound Jedi identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtterAndTerrier/pseuds/OtterAndTerrier
Summary: A sequel toMountain Life, byorgananation. It's the second day of the team's mission into the mountains: as the group moves forward, two people go back to square one.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mountain Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143239) by [organanation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/organanation/pseuds/organanation). 



> Written for Phase Two of the **Jedifest 2017 Rogue Robin Challenge** , callsign #roguerobin017.
> 
> Thanks to **culturevulture73** for the necessary corrections and **organanation** for providing the original story!

Eyes focused on her handheld map reader, Leia was trying very hard to block out the sight and feeling of Han hovering around her like an anxious thranta as she tried to make sense of the schematics for the route they had to take.

“Making any progress with that, sweetheart?” he asked at last, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. “Maybe I could help.”

“Or maybe,” Leia said slowly, one finger tracing a path in the map, “you could go sit over there and ask Luke to teach you the great Jedi skill of patience.”

 _So much for peace and quiet_ , the aforementioned Jedi thought wryly as he sat a few feet away from them with his eyes closed, trying to explore the paths of the mountain with his mind and feel hidden threats. The rocky nature of this mission meant they’d had to leave both droids with the _Falcon_ , hidden in a cave several clicks below, so a map and Luke’s ever-growing connection to all things through the Force were all they had to make their way through the foreign land. It was proving to be a difficult task, when he had an immediate source of disturbance right behind him.

Not two hours had passed since Luke had spotted his two friends sleeping closer to each other than what would have been strictly professional—not that there was a lot of strict professionalism in the Rebellion as far as interpersonal relationships went, but it was something Leia favored, in general. And on top of it, they had been holding hands, which Luke was sure neither of them would admit at gunpoint now. He wasn’t likely to bring it up, either way, since he was counting on not being pushed off a cliff anytime soon.

Though he’d never witnessed something quite as intimate before, it wasn’t the first time Luke saw the hint of something more between Han and Leia—more than either of them had with anybody else Luke knew. Nearly as soon as he’d met Leia, his vision of the beautiful girl from the hologram falling to his feet in thanks and admiration for his brave deeds had vanished, to be replaced with a mix of awe and a bit of jealousy for this woman who was self-possessed to a fault and assumed command of a group of men as if she had been born for it (which she had, being a princess and all). Therefore, even though they had later got to know each other and become friends, Luke’s attitude and treatment of Leia had changed from wide-eyed infatuation to deferential camaraderie.

Han’s initial attitude had suffered no such change. It was clear he respected Leia and, even though the smuggler would deny it if anyone asked, admired her, but unlike most folks, he never bowed his head and stuttered when he disagreed with the princess. Han treated Leia like he treated everyone else. That was, if you didn’t count his flippant-yet-obvious caring for her wellbeing, the irreverent flirting that he reserved just for her, and the way his face went all soft sometimes when he looked at her. And now the holding-hands-in-their-sleep thing, which couldn’t have been a clearer giveaway. Luke couldn’t picture Han doing that of all things with any other female, and he seriously doubted it was just big-brotherly.

The Force wouldn’t have been able to predict what had happened this time. Luke had gone back to the stream near which he had been meditating earlier to fill up all of their canteens, and by the time he’d returned both Han and Leia had been already awake… bickering over breakfast. Apparently Leia had said she wasn’t going to leave their breakfast in Han’s hands because she couldn’t possibly take that much spice so early in the morning, to which Han had replied that she was welcome to be in charge of the food if she was sure she could follow the instructions, for once, and avoid drowning the rations. Luke had shaken his head in disbelief and joined Chewie while the Wookiee took it upon himself to prepare the forgotten breakfast.

“Patience?” they heard Han saying now, accompanied by a low snort. “ _You’re_ telling me I’m not patient?”

Leia turned away from the map at last to arch a fine eyebrow at him. “Don’t tell me that’s the first you heard it.”

Han opened his mouth to answer, then rolled his eyes and raised his arms, giving up. “At the risk of annoying Her Highness, how long till we can get back on track and find these religious freaks?”

“Don’t call them that,” Leia snapped. “They only agreed to aid the Rebellion at great personal risk with the sole request that they are allowed to see the ‘last Jedi’ in person. If you blow up this chance by disrespecting them—”

“Hey, take it easy, Princess! I didn’t say it to their faces, did I?”

“I suggest you prepare for the encounter by not saying it at all.” Hitching her rucksack up her shoulders, Leia turned her back on Han. “Luke, I’ve got the way mapped. Do you need more time?” Her tone was polite, yet Luke could detect it was mostly a formal question. He had no more time.

“No, I’m fine.” Luke pushed himself to his feet, suppressing a sigh. It’s not like he’d made much progress, but considering the nature of the mission, he could have used a little more lenience and a lot less scepticism. He felt like a fraud as it was.

* * *

It took them half an hour to make it past the first half mile: not because of the irregular terrain, but a disagreement in command.

“Now, wait a minute, Your Highness,” Han said, hurrying to catch up with Leia, who had positioned herself at the head of their little group. “Me an’ Chewie are going first.”

Leia did not break stride. “It’s ‘Chewie and I’, and I don’t see how you could, since you’ve got no idea where we’re going.”

“Uh-huh, and I guess it didn’t cross your mind to fill us in.”

“We’ve wasted enough time as it is; we need to get moving.”

Han stepped in her way to force her to stop, a scowl set firmly on his face. “Let us go first, you can boss us around from the back. You don’t know there aren’t scout troopers up here. I thought you were bringing us along for security?”

“It certainly wasn’t for the company,” Leia said through gritted teeth.

“Han’s right, we don’t know what’s up ahead,” Luke piped up, walking past Chewie to join the other two. “And I should probably be on the lead.”

His hand touched the hilt of the lightsaber he kept clipped to his belt, and Leia just about managed not to roll her eyes.

“I’m armed and capable of defending myself; I don’t need either you on the lead,” she said, fixing her eyes first on Luke, then Han. “What I need you to do is follow my lead and cover me. Understood? I’d like to get there before nightfall.”

Before she turned away, she saw Luke and Han exchange a look that was eerily reminiscent to one they had shared on a corridor in the bowels of the Death Star. She hadn’t been cowed by these two men then and she wasn’t about to start now, so Leia turned her back on them and began to walk through the mountain’s shrubbery, hoping for their own sake that they would have enough sense to follow her.

It wasn’t that she doubted Luke’s Force-sensitivity and skills: she had seen him flying, and that shot to the Death Star had been successful against all odds, even if it had been a fluke. However, she had heard from her father that it took years of intensive training to become a Jedi, and she knew Luke had only been with Master Kenobi for less than a day before the General’s demise, his training consisting of a few hours of dodging a remote’s shots with his lightsaber aboard the _Millennium_ _Falcon_ ’s main hold. Luke was a great friend, and a committed, brave fighter, but Leia harbored no hopes of the Rebel Alliance counting with a fully-trained Jedi within their ranks anytime soon.

The natives they were going to see now, however, didn’t care for the distinction: not because they were uncivilized or naive—or as Han had called them, religious freaks—but because they still held a deep respect for the Force and Force-users, and believed Luke had at least the potential to achieve great things. Like the rebels, they just needed to have a reason to hope.

Even so, while Leia wasn’t about to discourage Luke in his self-training, she couldn’t allow their mission to extend more than it was supposed to just to indulge his meditation sessions and sword practice.

Han was a different matter. Having him comfort her the night before, holding her hand as they fell asleep… she couldn’t deny it had felt good. It had been one of the few occasions when they’d both let themselves be nice, close, without a trace of sarcasm or animosity between them. But it wouldn’t last, it never did, because she couldn’t let herself go on in that direction—a direction that led to hand-holding and cuddling under the stars. So, naturally, that morning when Leia woke up, she slipped her hand out of his grasp and drew back into her shell. And when Han woke up, she led them back to that safer terrain where they yelled and fought because, somehow, that hurt less.

Letting out a soundless sigh, she ducked under a low-hanging branch and kept moving, refocusing her mind to the journey that still lay ahead of them. Up ahead, their path disappeared in the dark opening of a thicket of rusted-green bushes. Leia knew it was supposed to, but it didn’t make it any less ominous.

“Are we sure this is the right way?” she heard Han say behind her.

“Yes. The direction is correct and this is the only way through.”

She stepped into the shadow of the cave-like grove—

“Leia, WAIT!” Luke yelled, but it was a second too late.


End file.
